


i was and you were (happy)

by thedarknesswithin (babylxxrry)



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, End of the World, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, others mentioned in passing - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22186678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babylxxrry/pseuds/thedarknesswithin
Summary: “The world is ending, Deniss. They just announced it everywhere. The news, the TV, the radio, everything.”“Thewhatiswhat?”[the world is ending. deniss spends twelve hours living.]
Relationships: Stéphane Lambiel & Deniss Vasiljevs, Stéphane Lambiel/Deniss Vasiļjevs
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25





	i was and you were (happy)

**Author's Note:**

> title from billie eilish's the end of the world. i know it's dumb and cliche, hush, it fits,
> 
> there's more & than / but it can be read as / if you so desire. seems to be the case for a lot of my writing lmao
> 
> it's not a sad end, necessarily, but like. it's the end of the world. so .

_T-minus 12 hours_

The announcement happens at noon. Deniss doesn’t even hear about it until he comes off the ice and finds the girls sitting in the living room frantically trying to call people and crying when the calls don’t go through.

“Did something happen?”

Matilda looks up and bursts into a renewed bout of tears when she sees Deniss, and he tries not to panic. He’s never been good with juggling strong emotions from others, usually relies on Stephane to filter it before he has to deal with it himself.

Emmi jabs her finger onto her phone again, hitting the same retry call button she just tried ten seconds ago, and gets another error tone.

“The world is ending, Deniss. They just announced it everywhere. The news, the TV, the radio, everything.”

“The _what_ is _what_?”

“Asteroid,” Matilda chokes out, face buried in her hands. “Asteroid. Twelve hours.”

“ _What_?”

Emmi taps something else on her phone and holds it out to Deniss. It’s a news site, explaining exactly what the girls had said. An asteroid was on a direct collision course with the planet, and there was nothing to be done about it. Scientists estimated it’d hit in about twelve hours, about midnight.

Deniss finds that he doesn’t feel anything. Sure, there’s some instinctual fear, but it feels so far away. He passes the phone back.

“The phone lines are all down,” Emmi says gravely, wrapping her arm around Matilda, who hiccups on a sob. “But I would try to call your family soon.”

Deniss nods dumbly and goes off to find Stephane.

“Steph?” He peeks into the kitchen, the other living room, Stephane’s room, his own room, even the bathroom, but he can’t find him anywhere. Then he remembers that there’s a little balcony that people rarely use, mainly because one has to go through the attic to get to it, but that Stephane had mentioned how much he appreciated it when he needed solitude.

“Steph?” Deniss tries as he makes his way gingerly across dusty floorboards. The door to the balcony is open, and the early summer breeze is crinkling the plastic covering spare mattresses by the door.

“Hi, cheri,” Stephane says quietly when Deniss reaches the door. He doesn’t turn from where he’s staring out at the mountains. “Did you call your parents yet?”

Deniss shakes his head. “No. I was going to try later, when there might be less people freaking out and calling.”

“Smart boy,” Stephane murmurs.

“Have you?”

“I tried. I thought maybe I could fly back to them but every plane ticket seems to be already sold out, and I couldn’t leave you behind.”

“Me?”

“You and the others. But yes, you.”

“Oh.”

Stephane doesn’t respond from there, and Deniss steps out onto the balcony. It’s a beautiful view.

\--

_T-minus 7 hours_

It’s almost five hours later that Deniss finally gets through to his family on Skype. He’s taken a shower, tidied up his things, tried to send texts to the few friends he’s most frequently in contact with though he’s not sure if they sent, and he’s been trying to call home for almost an hour and a half. A popup message lets him know he has about three minutes before Skype disconnects their call.

“Deniss?” His mother looks frantic, and Deniss’ heart hurts. He wishes he could be there with her. He wishes he could be in her arms, safe from whatever was to come. “Oh, baby, come home.”

“I can’t, there’s no tickets. And they’re starting to cancel flights because they don’t know if it’s dangerous.”

“I love you, Deniss, so much.”

Deniss fights back tears. He doesn’t succeed. “I love you too, Mama. More than anything else.”

His father sniffles, scrubbing at his eyes. “I love you, Deniss. Be safe, okay?”

“I love you too, Dad. Tell the others I love them very much. And I will. As much as I can be.”

“Is Coach Stephane there, too?” his mother asks, and Deniss glances up to where Stephane is pacing the other end of the room, waiting for his own call to connect.

“Yes.”

“Tell him thank you. For everything. For protecting you and guiding you,” his mother says tearfully.

“I will.”

There’s a silence, then another popup dings and tells them they have about thirty seconds left. Deniss speaks again, but quieter this time.

“What happens after?”

“I don’t know,” his father says, “but we will see you again, I promise you. We will meet, no matter where we are or how long it takes or if we’re in heaven or the universe or anywhere else.”

Deniss can’t help the tears that roll down his face. “I love you Dad, I love you Mama.”

“I love you, my baby, my Deniss,” his mother says, blowing him a kiss before she hides her face in her husband’s shoulder.

“I love you, Deniss,” his father says, and before anyone can say goodbye, the call ends and Deniss is helpless to stop the sob that claws its way up his throat.

Stephane watches him silently until his own call connects and he ducks out of the room, switching into rapid Portuguese.

\--

_T-minus 3 hours_

Stephane had made one of the Champery favorite dinners as their last meal together, a rich stew that’s usually reserved for the coldest of winters. It’s comforting, though, if not slightly too heavy for this time of year, but Deniss thinks it’s a good thing. It’s one of the things that feels like _home_.

The girls left for their friends down in the town after dinner, with long hugs and goodbyes and promises to meet again in another life, and then it’s just Deniss and Stephane left.

“Three hours,” Deniss says. “What do you want to do?”

“This feels like some stupid movie,” Stephane replies, putting dishes in the dishwasher as if nothing’s happening. “It doesn’t feel real.”

“I know. What do you regret not doing with your life?”

Stephane scoffs. “A lot of things, cheri, a lot of things.”

“Pick one. Humor me.”

“For one, not spending more time with the people I care about. My family, my good friends, you know.”

“That’s generic. I’ll do one for every one of yours?”

“Okay, but no copying unless you add another one.”

Deniss smiles involuntarily. It’s such a Steph thing to make sure everything’s fair even in silly games.

“Fine. I wish I had done more in general. There are so many songs I want to skate to. There are so many goals I have, like European medal, Worlds medal, Olympics medal, even, that I won’t get now. But also travelling and studying and exploring the world I live in.”

“I wish I could have taught more and done more for all of my students, but especially you. As a coach, I’m not supposed to play favorites, but I think it’s okay to have an exception in this case. You’ve always been my first priority, you know.” Stephane dries his hands and comes to sit next to Deniss.

Deniss hugs him on an impulse, and Stephane just holds him close.

“I wish I could have made you prouder,” Deniss says into Stephane’s neck.

“Oh, cheri, non. Don’t say that. You’ve made me so proud already, and I don’t want you to forget that, okay?”

Deniss nods, breathing in deep before he sighs, letting go.

“Let’s make a dessert, how’s that sound?” Stephane says gently, brushing Deniss’ hair out of his eyes.

“That’s good. Let’s do that.” Deniss latches onto the out Stephane’s giving him from the emotions.

\--

_T-minus 15 minutes_

“Do you want to be outside for it?” Stephane had asked Deniss while their brownies baked.

Deniss had shaken his head. “I would be really anxious.”

“Sleeping, then?”

“Also no. I don’t want to be alone.” An idea had popped into Deniss’ mind. “What if we were in the Palladium? On the ice?”

And that’s how they end up sitting on a couple layers of blankets by the side of the rink, eating brownies, both in their favorite soft clothes and wrapped in a shared fleece. They’d skated around for a little bit during the past hour, having fun with choreo and steps before they turned the lights off for the last twenty minutes before the collision.

Deniss brushes himself off before curling into Stephane’s side. Stephane pulls him closer, tugging the blanket more securely around their shoulders.

“Is it gonna hurt?”

“I don’t know. They think it’ll hit somewhere in Europe, if that makes you feel better. Maybe we’ll spontaneously combust.”

“What comes after?” Deniss knows Stephane has at least a little bit of faith, but their conversations about it always ended with the general idea that there might be someone or something out there, but never anything tangible.

Stephane hesitates, and Deniss listens to him breathing. He can see their clouds of breath in the moonlight.

“I don’t know. Maybe heaven. Maybe hell. Maybe purgatory. Maybe nothing at all.”

Deniss thinks the uncertainty is worse than the anticipation of it actually happening. He thinks about all of the things he’s been through, all of the laughter and the tears and the experiences and everything from the most mundane toast for breakfast to skating at the literal Olympics.

“I’m scared, Steph,” Deniss whispers like it’s a secret, though it’s obviously not. “I’m really scared.”

“I am too. But we can be scared together.”

Deniss pauses. “Wherever we are after, promise me we’ll find each other again?”

“Of course. Always. I promise.”

“Thank you.” Deniss has never felt so vulnerable and small in his life.

Stephane takes his hand and holds it tight. 

And then they wait, pressed close together in a cocoon of fleece and body heat.

The sky turns a brilliant, fiery red-orange a few minutes later, and Deniss pulls the blanket up over their heads.

“I love you, Steph,” Deniss says softly.

“I love you, too, Deniss,” Stephane replies, just as soft.

Everything flashes white-hot and then it’s nothing at all.

-fin.

**Author's Note:**

> leave me a comment or kudos if you cried or liked it or hate me :)))


End file.
